Tourists have also told news.com.au they have been forced out of accommodation close to the base of the volcano.

“I had been at a wedding in a remote village of Munti Gunung in the north of Bali,” Rory Eastick said.

“Around 11.30pm asleep back in the diving town of Tulamben I was woken by my Indonesian brother in law and told to pack our things and evacuate the area immediately.

“It was quite a worrying moment because it was at that time we realised everyone in our hotel had already left. Family staying in another hotel were kicked out and made to find their own way to safety.”

“Bali tourism is safe. Do not spread the misleading news that Bali is not safe because Mount Agung is on the highest alert status. Please, come and visit Bali,” A.A. Gede Yuniartha Putra said from Denpasar.

A farmer fertilisers his field at the base of Mount Agung volcano, in Karangasem Regency on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on September 27, 2017. Picture: Bay IsmoyoSource:AFP

Foreign tourists walk along Kuta beach in Denpasar on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on September 27, 2017. Picture: Sonny TumbelakaSource:AFP

Yet Darryl Scott, who was staying in a dive resort 12-kilometres away from the volcano told news.com.au how he watched Mt Agung “become more active”.

“We even experienced six tremors while diving. Two felt huge,” he said.

“Within three hours our hotel shipped us to our next destination early. They sensibly moved all guests to avoid the impending chaos and shut down the hotel as best they could. They saved us trauma and anxiety. We feel so much for the workers who have lost their incomes.”

Swift assurances were made in a follow-up statement, claiming 50,000-60,000 visitors were still flying in and out of the country on Wednesday.

The statement said the raised hazard level of Mount Agung could “discourage tourists” but because most tourist destinations were far from the exclusion zone, visitors “should not be worried".

Meanwhile, a rumbling, belching volcano that’s threatening to blow had forced more than 7,000 people to flee their homes by Wednesday on an island in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu.

Authorities have declared an emergency on Ambae island, where activity at the Manaro volcano has increased recently, raising fears of a major eruption. About 10,000 people live on the island, and villagers close to the volcano have been moved to schools and community halls on the island’s less vulnerable eastern and western regions.